State police arrest son in death of mother

MONMOUTH, Maine — State police charged a Monmouth man with murder Tuesday night in connection with the death of his 80-year-old mother, whose body was found inside her home Monday night.

Kenneth McDonald, 43, was charged at about 9:30 p.m. by detectives at the Winthrop Police Station where he had been brought for questioning during the afternoon, according to state police spokesman Stephen McCausland.

McCausland said Janice McDonald was found by relatives at about 5 p.m. Monday. The state’s medical examiner completed an autopsy Tuesday, but police were not disclosing how she died.

Police had been looking for Kenneth McDonald, who lived with his mother but went missing Monday. He was taken into custody by Cumberland County deputies at about 1 p.m. Tuesday on Bailey Island in Harpswell.

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McDonald, who was taken to Kennebec County Jail in Augusta, is likely to make his first appearance in Kennebec Superior Court either Wednesday or Thursday, McCausland said.